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Chaos In The Texas House As Budget Fight Heats Up

Far-right tantrums and school vouchers could derail the state budget.

Michelle H. Davis

Mar 28, 2025

Correction: In yesterday’s email, I mistakenly stated that the Collin County Democratic Party required business leadership training for candidates. That was incorrect. It was actually the Plano Area Democrats that encouraged leadership training for those seeking their endorsement. I regret the error and appreciate the clarification.

At this point, would it even be a normal day if Brian Harrison (R-HD10) wasn’t pulling some stunt to get camera time? Harrison is incorrigible. Every time he puts himself in the spotlight, we cringe, but his constant lies and performative outrage keep him exactly where he wants to be, front and center, feeding the outrage machine.

On Wednesday, his little rag-tag crew hit the back mic to talk about how the entire state budget was unconstitutional, implying it should be thrown out:

I love how Josey Garcia (D-HD124) smirks in the background throughout the entire clip.

For as long as I’ve been watching the Legislature, in both the House and Senate Chambers, the Committees that handle the budget take testimony from the Legislative Budget Board and the various Government agencies regarding their needs. Then, the line-by-line discussion of allocation happens in meetings without cameras. The line-by-line budget documentation is published online. Then, it’s voted out of the committee and sent to the corresponding chamber.

The Brainworm Brigade says that the entire process is unconstitutional and that the line-by-line discussions should happen before a camera.

You can see the documentation of what they did with the budget HERE.

But did the meetings break the rules? Here is the rule in question:

Yeah, probably. But it does not necessarily mean the budget process itself is unconstitutional. Violating procedural transparency rules does not automatically invalidate a law or budget. It would require legal action to determine consequences. Their argument is likely more about generating outrage than making a legally sound case.

Then, Harrison was back at the back mic yesterday, once again playing right-wing grievance politics.

Harrison listed GOP culture war grievances to stir up his supporters. There’s no connection between these issues and resolution scheduling, but he’s pretending there is to make it seem like legislative priorities are being hijacked by wokeness.

The Speaker confirmed that no calendar was set for either day, meaning no bills were scheduled for debate. This is not some nefarious conspiracy. It just means the House hadn’t scheduled anything yet. That’s normal. This is the process every session.

However, through all of Harrison’s crying online and on podcasts, he has a whole lot of Republican voters convinced that the House is secretly run by a Democratic cabal that is somehow pulling the strings behind closed doors, despite Republicans holding the majority.

Today, Harrison pulled yet another stunt.

According to Article III, Section 17 of the Texas Constitution, neither the House nor the Senate can adjourn for more than three days without the consent of the other chamber. If both chambers agree, the Legislature can adjourn for a weekend or a long weekend. However, neither chamber can take a break longer than three days without mutual consent.

What has been happening (for many years) during this time in the House is that they meet on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays to pass resolutions, then stand at ease from Friday to Monday. On both Fridays and Mondays, the clerks read bills for the first time to go to Committees, and Committees have been meeting on Mondays through Thursdays.

At the beginning of this session, House members were voting to take the long weekend. However, every single time they did that, it gave Brian Harrison camera time to complain about his grievance for the day. So, they stopped doing these resolutions and instead stood at ease. I think they were doing this to deny Harrison the opportunity to cause drama. Nonetheless, he has.

For the last several weeks, Harrison has been posting selfie-videos from the House floor telling all his moronic followers that the Republican House that is secretly ran by Democrats is unconstitutionally taking a long weekend.

Today, he demanded a roll-call vote to verify the votes. There was not a quorum.

Here’s what Harrison had to say about this forced roll-call quorum vote:

He took an oath to be a whiny, little crybaby.

But now, Speaker Burrows has scheduled a Saturday session.

While it’s normal to have a Saturday session near the end of the Legislature (in late May), it never happens in March. Many of the members have already driven or flown back home. Are they expected to come back to Austin tomorrow for Harrison’s stunt?

We’ll have to wait and see, but all of this has reminded me of the threats the Brainworm Brigade made against the House in January:

Is this the far-right’s revenge for passing House rules in January? Maybe.

It should be noted, as of today:

None of Brian Harrison’s bills have been heard in committees.
None of Nate Schatzline’s bills have been heard in committees.
None of David Lowe’s bills have been heard in committees.
None of Mitch Little’s bills have been heard in committees.
None of Andy Hopper’s bills have been heard in committees.
None of Mike Olcott’s bills have been heard in committees.
None of Shelley Luther’s bills have been heard in committees.
None of AJ Louderback’s bills have been heard in committees.
None of JM Lozano’s bills have been heard in committees.
None of Katrina Pierson’s bills have been heard in committees.
None of Joann Schofner’s bills have been heard in committees.

It appears that for these far-right House members, alienating all of your co-workers doesn’t give you a favorable outcome on your priorities.

For comparison (below are all Republicans):

Seven of Cecil Bell’s bills have been heard by a committee.
Three of Brad Buckley’s bills have been heard by a committee.
Six of Jared Patterson’s bills have been heard by a committee.
Three of Valoree Swanson’s bills have been heard by a committee.
Nine of Cody Vasut’s bills have been heard by a committee.

It turns out that throwing daily temper tantrums at the back mic and accusing your own party of being infiltrated by Democrats doesn’t exactly make your colleagues eager to work with you. The House operates on relationships, negotiations, and trust, three things the Brainworm Brigade has actively torched in their quest for viral outrage.

While actual legislators are getting their bills heard and moved through committees, Harrison and his crew are busy racking up grievance points on social media, treating the House floor like their own personal talk show. They aren’t serious about passing legislation; they’re interested in fundraising off their self-imposed victimhood, pretending they’re fighting against some deep-state Republican-Democrat conspiracy instead of their own incompetence.

Sometimes, I really love the Republican Civil War. 🍿🍿

House Progressive Caucus takes a stand against the budget.

Yesterday, the Texas Legislative Progressive Caucus outlined its opposition to CSHB 1/SB 1, mainly focusing on the universal school voucher program hidden within the budget.

They’re urging legislators to oppose the budget unless these provisions are removed. The caucus’s opposition could make budget negotiations messy, especially since rural Republicans have historically opposed vouchers.

The Calendar’s Committee has scheduled the budget debate on the full floor for Wednesday:

At this point, between Brian Harrison’s fake constitutional crisis and the progressive caucus’s hardline stance against school vouchers, the Texas budget is shaping up to be an absolute legislative trainwreck.

On one side, the Brainworm Brigade is throwing a tantrum, insisting the entire budget process is unconstitutional because some meetings weren’t recorded on camera. On the other hand, progressives are outright rejecting the budget over the Republican leadership’s sneaky attempt to funnel unlimited taxpayer money into private school vouchers.

With the full House debate scheduled for Wednesday, the odds of this budget sailing through smoothly are slimmer by the minute.

If either faction manages to block or stall the budget, the House is in for a full-blown meltdown. The budget needs 100 votes to pass.

And if the budget actually fails? That’s when the real chaos begins.

Would leadership try to force it through again with concessions to the far-right? Would they cut the voucher scheme to appease moderates and Democrats? Would we see another drawn-out fight over procedural nonsense while the state government hangs in limbo?

One thing’s for sure: we’re in for a spectacle. There’s nothing the Texas House loves more than messy intra-party warfare, and with this many competing interests, it’s about to get ugly. Grab the popcorn. 🍿